Hello,
I've picked up a 01 4x4 Ext. Cab Ram with the 5.9L. It has 82k miles on it with 285/75 BF All Terains on it...no lift.

I've been through 2 tanks of gas and got about 9.2 MPGs.

I've been reading a lot of posts lately and lots of members reference FASTMAN TB's. Should I get one? Where would I get it? Should I try to clean out the current TB first...and how??? Sorry for all the questions, this is my first Dodge..

Thanks,
-H

(I plan on doing some towing with the truck on the occasional weekend, but during the week it is my daily driver to work...about 10 city miles per day. )




[IMG]local://upfiles/24140/4E7041CF330641949A205D19AAC05363.jpg[/IMG]

 

first off, welcome to DF. second, for your 5.9, you should get the 52mm fastman tb. its a very good upgrade. you can get it from him on thefastman.com . as far as cleaning your tb. just pick up some TB cleaner. ( or carb cleaner, same thing really.) and some paper towels. let it soke in and the wipe it clean. i desided to also scrub mine down with some. scotch brite pads and the wiped it out. that really cleaned it up nice.

 

A Fastman TB is a stock TB that "The Fastman" Dan Arcand does a bunch of work to to make it flow better. Details are on his previously mentioned website. I have one - I can't say that it has helped my mileage any - but it definitely helped the throttle response. If you call him and mention this forum he should give you the sale price, which is 219.95 I believe. That may have changed in the last couple months since I got mine, so it might be a little more expensive. As for mileage - I have consistently gotten 12-13 mpg with mine with the 5.2 motor. I have switched to synthetic oil and lube, have a K&N drop-in filter, a Fastman TB, changed the distributor cap & rotor, changed plugs to Champion Truck Plugs, switched to MSD 8.5 mm plug wires, tried using higher octane gas, I STILL GET 12 - 13 MPG! The truck runs better and definitely has more power........but I think I'm stuck with the mpg. You might have different results.....I'm not saying "don't try it", Im just saying that crappy mileage comes with the Dodge full size 4x4 territory.

I just changed my distributor cap and wires at 65,000 miles (this is NOT a fun job on these trucks, as you will see when you locate the distributor). The factory cap had quite a bit of corrosion on the inside terminals. I would suggest you get a new cap & rotor ( get one from NAPA that has brass terminals) Change the plug wires when you change the cap - again, once you find it you will see why you only want to do this once. I did plugs, wires, and cap & rotor all at once and it took 3 hours. I was extra careful to index the plugs, re-install the split loom on the plug wires, and make sure I made no mistakes in routing wires, but it still takes a while.

Go ahead and get a Fastman, get a K&N drop-in filter, do the cap, plug, and wire change, and you WILL notice an improvement in power and response. Hopefully an improvement in mileage also. Just for reference the total price of my stuff (K&N, Fastman, MSD wires, cap & rotor, plugs) was around $400.

Hope this helps you out!

 

Thank you both for the information. I think I will go ahead and start saving $$$ to do all/most of those suggestions at once.

Now, as long as the tranny holds out...i'll be set:-)

Thanks again,
-hoss

 

welcome to DF! Nice truck!

your 1st mod before towing should be an external tranny cooler, ditch the one in the radiator and get an external one, the biggest you can find. your tranny will be happy you did.

my 52mm fastman was one of the best mods i've done. very happy with it. your best bet is to make sure your motor can breath well. they dont like any rpm's above 3500 or so, rev it up under load and you'll see. another excellent mod is the 1.7 RR's...

 

1.7 RR's?

 

Anybody have contact info/web info for the Fastman TB?

 

Rolling Rockers...very good up grade. Steve has done a lot of upgrades, and seems to have tried them all.

 

click on the advertisement on the right column called the fastman. It will take you to his sight for info and ordering and dyno charts.

 

Hey Hoss Power Wagon.....here's a link to a post with pics of how I installed my trans cooler.
https://dodgeforum.com/m_286895/mpag.../tm.htm#286895

AND......If you need detailed instructions - here they are : ( I transferred this from another forum I post on)

I would guess you could do it with any cooler, they all have an inlet and an outlet. You want to put the cooler in after the fluid goes through the cooler in the radiator (factory standard), so the idea is to splice it in the return line. I don't know if a Durango has the exact same setup or not - look at the pics and compare. Some factory tranny coolers are mounted in between the rad and condenser, so check that out before you buy one. Here's the instructions for a Ram. Some people sandwich the tranny cooler between the radiator and the condenser - I thought about that but to get enough room to work behind the condenser requires removing it - which requires unhooking the A.C. lines and an A.C recharge. Sorry - I'm not doing that. Attaching the cooler on the outside as I did requires removal of the two top bolts that hold the condenser on in order to get your arm behind it to attach the plastic mounting nuts. No biggie. You need a "quick disconnect tool", $6 at Auto Zone, to unhook the "hard line" at the joint. The return line is the one that attaches to the top of the radiator....see pic. There will be some drainage from the line, so have a pan and rags handy. An 11/16 wrench removes the fitting at the radiator. I used a tubing cutter to cut the line about 1/2 way down, leaving enough of the line to still catch in the holder on the radiator after being bent. Use a tubing bender to bend the ends of the line forward - be careful not to kink it. Mine started to kink even with the bender - so watch carefully as you bend. If it starts to kink, stop, a perfect 90 degree bend isn't necessary. I used a flaring tool to flare the cut ends of the line a little bit - enough to help hold the hose in place better - and filed the edges smooth so the hose would not cut through over time. Blow compressed air through the hard line pieces to clean out any metal filings. Reattach the ends to the radiator and tranny line. I ran the bottom line out through a precut place in the rubber next to the radiator, I cut a hole for the other line. Cut cooler hose to length, attach top to top, bottom to bottom with clamps provided with cooler. Don't overtighten. I left the bottom hose off and had my son start the truck up in neutral to make sure I had good fluid flow before I buttoned it up. Have a clean container to catch the fluid that comes out. You won't have to run it long to get fluid out - so this is best done with two people. You can put the fluid back in the tranny if you use a clean container. I cut two pieces of old radiator hose to use as a buffer between the cooler lines and the A.C. condenser lines and zip tied the lines loosely together. Probably didn't have to - but I didn't want them rubbing. Depending on how much fluid drained from the lines, and how much the cooler holds, you may have to add some tranny fluid, so check the level after installation. That's pretty much it. If you can find the "hard line" at a salvage yard - I would suggest getting one and doing your cutting and bending on it, that way you have an extra. If you screw up the original - you'll be needing another ride to go find one! The tools I used can be rented at Auto Zone if you don't have them. I hope this is clear enough......Good Luck!